In the field of performing dental osteotomies for the placement of an implant to replace a tooth, it is necessary to prepare the site to receive the implant therein. This is generally done by means of a handpiece and drill bit, drilling into the existing bone to both a specified depth and a specified diameter before inserting the implant into the site.
Some of the drill bits currently used for this procedure contain markings thereon to indicate the depth of the bit. These markings, however, are generally a band of a dark color, notches engraved onto the bit, or alternating color bands to represent a range of depths. In the mix of water, saliva and sometimes blood present in the mouth, the location of the implant site itself (often in or towards the rear of the mouth), and the generally high speed of rotation of the drill bit (several hundred or more revolutions per minute), even under the best of circumstances it is difficult for the operator to know precisely when a given depth has been reached. It is often necessary to stop drilling, and actually measure the depth using a probe of known depths, and then continue drilling if the necessary depth has not been reached, until the desired depth has been reached. Although it is feasible to perform this cycle of stopping, measuring, restarting etc., during an implant procedure, doing this several times often adds to the stress of the patient and/or the operator, and this cycling is neither as convenient nor as useful as being able to know when a specific depth has been reached, and to stop at that point.
While a number of different types of drill stops have been described in the prior art, there is still a long-felt and unmet need for a depth measurement stop which can be quickly mounted onto most any manufacturer's drill bits, can be provided in a variety of diameters for use on various sized drill bits, can be readily sterilized by autoclaving, can be color coded for ease of identification during use, and are intended for a single use. Embodiments of the present invention, described in further detail in the following sections, meet these needs.